An ad in the Help Wanted section of the Space Construction Gazette caught my eye. It was from the Nakaji-Wei Consortium—the group had been commissioned to build the first habitat based on the Taikong Gaogu project. They were looking for experienced space engineers and a head of engineering for the project. I double-checked the date. It had been posted over a month ago. According to the listed schedule, they should have completed the initial printing of the giant cylinders and be working on all the other details that would make it livable.
The project was going ahead in the Alpha Centauri B system, which wasn't too much of a surprise. It was the closest star to the sun, providing relatively easy access, plus we knew it had a rich solar system to provide plenty of raw materials. The idea of building a world was tantalizing and the engineering challenges mouth-watering. Not to mention the idea of permanently escaping the confines of Earth. What more amazing adventure could there be? Just thinking about it sent shivers across my skin.
I knew I had next to zero chance. I already had two strikes against me as a non-PAC citizen. But I sent my résumé anyway, specifying I'd take any engineering position they'd consider me for. I couldn't think of a better way to make a fresh start. Or perhaps it was nothing more than a lame attempt to escape the emptiness waiting for me back on Earth.
*
When the Jump kicked in, it was rough. Earth's proximity made the psychosomatic effects greater than most of the ones we'd taken. But after that it was plain sailing, and I put us on course direct to the High-Rig.
Despite our losses, the atmosphere onboard was more light-hearted than on our outward journey. Instead of facing an unknown and dangerous future, people were talking about plans for what they'd do back on Earth. Though they knew of Hernandez's planned sabotage, I even saw Logan and Aurore sharing a joke with the MilSec guys.
Somehow I felt more defeated and isolated than when Dollie had kicked me out, and again I buried my problems in work. Everyone else had people waiting for them to get back, but I had no one. My only friends were on the ship, and I'd lose them when they reunited with their own families. I tried not to feel resentment, but the more I thought about it, the more I retreated into my own little cave.
The CASTOR tanks were the next item on my list. It was a long and tiring job, but over the next few days, with Dan's help, I patched most of the tanks while surreptitiously checking for any further bombs. He certainly worked hard enough, often putting in longer days than I did. He was also meticulous in his attention to detail, something essential on a task like this. By the time we'd finished, I was pretty sure the tanks would hold water again, even though we had no real way of testing them.
As I was finishing off the last one, Logan showed up and examined the patches we'd made, tutting over my crappy welding. "That's a lot of work, Joe. Find anything unusual?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. But doing this is better than lying in my bunk counting rivets."
He nodded. "Any plans for when we get back?"
I hesitated. "I sent my details to the PAC habitat program. They're looking for engineers."
"The PAC? Do you think you have a chance?"
"Seems unlikely." I remembered my conversation with McDole. "I also had an offer to move to the Atolls, believe it or not."
"You considering it?"
"I don't think I could compromise my ideals that much."
"Glad to hear it." Logan's eyes were like x-ray lasers. "There's another option, if you're looking for one."
"Thanks, but I already applied for the clown position at Buffo MeatFree Burgers. I'm hoping to hear back soon."
Logan laughed. "Huffo Buffo is a demanding role. But seriously, you could get on board with the kind of work I'm doing. You're tough and smart. Experienced with ZeeGee and a passable pilot. They'd take you if I recommended it."
"Passable?"
"They wouldn't believe me if I made you sound too good."
"Thanks... I think." I leaned back against the wall of the tank. "Things are changing, aren't they? Out here, I mean."
Logan nodded. "It's a whole new can of worms, for sure. And there's going to be big demand for people with our skills and experience."
"Sometimes I wonder if this is right—humanity leaving Earth or the solar system. Maybe we're the species equivalent of cancer." I twisted an empty tube of VacSeal in my fingers. "We don't have a good record on dealing with different. Look how screwed up the world has been on simple variations within our own species, let alone anything more extreme."
"Perhaps this can be a new beginning. With the right people in place, we might be able to move forward together and make sure everybody gets a fair chance this time."
"With Atoll ships out there attacking Earth ships and stations?" I said.
Logan rubbed his jaw. "But we know who's really to blame."
Aurore had decided to work on the recorder from the Sacagawea while we cruised home, and although her findings were preliminary, she'd uncovered evidence that the ship had been attacked by someone using the same type of AF-11s we'd encountered. Again, with no transponder IDs.
"Maybe." I stood up. "But will anyone believe that?"
"It's down to us to make sure they do." Logan looked at me seriously. "Anyway, think about my suggestion."
"I'm not cut out to be that closely tied to the military," I said. "They make me nervous."
"Me too."
*
Once we were close enough to the High-Rig to make two-way communication practical, we picked up a flurry of comms activity. McDole would be transferring to an Atoll ship to return to her duties, and the MilSec team was being re-assigned now that we didn't warrant any protection. Logan had reported our findings to SecOps and handed over our sensor logs of the encounters with the two mystery AF-11s, along with the data from the flight recorder. He also informed them we'd be handing over the Shokasta when we docked, which they were no doubt happy to hear.
I'd made several calls to Dollie's number, but she'd ignored them and let the answering service pick up. I did my best to make my messages sound friendly but hopeful. I don't know if I succeeded—probably not.
As we approached the station, I spotted an Atoll AF-11 docked on one side and shivered at the sight, remembering our recent encounters.
"That's the new Bethe II." McDole looked sort of lost, as if she were expecting someone else to be there but me. "I hope Commander Brackeen is happy with his new command."
"Brackeen? How come you're not getting the first of the new ships?"
"I'm no longer on active flight status." McDole winced. "My position is an administrative and managerial one."
"They grounded you?" I checked our approach speed. "How come?"
"Politics." She shrugged. "Officially, I was promoted."
"Great."
I'd cleared our approach with traffic control and brought us in to docking port 31W. As we came around, another large ship slid into view. It had similar proportions to the Shokasta but was easily four times as large. I'd seen some news about this during our approach to Earth and the station.
"The USN Zenith," I said, zooming in on the ship. "Latest flagship of the USP space navy."
"I've seen the reports, including the secret ones. It's a warship, Joe. Not something to be proud of, is it?"
"Is the Bethe II unarmed?" Her silence answered my question. "Let's hope sense can prevail at the conference."
"I hope so," McDole said.
I brought the ship to a halt off the docking port, and a metallic clang boomed through the superstructure as the docking tube attached. A gust of air pulled at my skin as the pressures equalized when the airlocks opened.
"Docked and safe," I broadcast throughout the ship. "Thank you for flying Ballen Spaceways. Adventure is our middle name. If you enjoyed your flight, please tell your friends. If you didn't, keep your mouth shut or I'll hunt you down in your sleep."
"Goodbye, Joe." McDole gave me a short nod. "I'll get my things."
I turned to McDole and
held out my hand. She took it then pulled herself close to kiss my cheek.
"My offer stands."
She walked away, and as she vanished from sight, there was a thud as the umbilicals connected, then the lights flickered as the ship switched to external power. I slumped back into the seat, closed my eyes, and took several deep breaths. What was I going to do? I didn't want to go back to my crappy shoebox apartment, but I didn't have a job or the funds to pay for anything better. Everybody else would be returning to their normal lives, but I didn't have much of one anymore. I'd thought while I was away I might find something to help me move on, but I hadn't. No matter how far you go, you can't leave yourself behind. I wondered if Grant had already left. Maybe I could liberate his powdered alcohol supply before he did.
"You okay, Joe?"
I looked around. It was Logan and Aurore. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just wondering where I'm going to sleep for the next fifty years. Would anyone notice if I hunkered down in a quiet corner and gathered dust?"
"I've got some news." Logan glanced at Aurore, then back to me. "About Dollie."
A chill rolled down my spine. "What's happened?"
"Well... I got a SecOps report on her."
My mind skidded to a halt. "Say again?"
Aurore squeezed Logan's hand and moved to one side.
He folded his arms. "Because of our relationship, any SecOps information related to either of you gets automatically relayed to my account."
"You've been spying on us? On Dollie?"
"Don't get even more paranoid on me, Joe. We're only talking security-related items." Logan shrugged. "It's not like they were bugging you."
"Would Dollie agree with you on that?"
"Dollie's not here anymore."
Again, I felt like the ship had twisted from under me. "Huh?"
"What my clumsy lover is trying to tell you," Aurore said, "is that Dollie has left Earth."
I mentally reviewed Aurore's words, but they buzzed around my head in a sea of nonsense. When Dollie had said she was going away, I thought she meant switching apartments or something. "She went back to Luna?"
Logan looked grim. "She enrolled in the space piloting program and qualified. The SecOps notification says she's taken a contract doing a Tau Ceti resupply run.
"She got a job as a pilot?" That didn't make sense. Dollie was never that into the idea of space travel, other than Luna or an orbital resort perhaps. I was the one with the explorer monkey on my back.
"According to the report, she's done three runs while we've been away."
That was a long drag. Tau Ceti was a double Jump from Earth so not the easiest route she could have picked up. "Do you know her schedule?" The thought that she might be on the High-Rig had my head spinning, as though I'd thrown back several shots of Strelka vodka. If she was on the station, perhaps we could get together, for old times' sake, or—
"I don't have that information," Logan said firmly.
I realized I'd been babbling. "But you can get it, can't you? You can wave that magic SecOps clearance at traffic control, and they'll roll over for a belly rub."
"I can't do th—"
"Of course you can, Logan," said Aurore. "Give the guy a break."
He stared at her then laughed. "Whose side are you on?"
At the secondary console, he logged into some mystery account, and a few seconds later a screen of transit information appeared. He transferred it over to mine.
"Go ahead."
I scrolled through the list and found Dollie's name. She'd been licensed several months ago—before we'd left on our search for the Sacagawea. How it had happened without me noticing bothered me. I opened up her record and checked the schedule. Her run took place every three weeks, and her next trip was in a few days.
"She must be on the High-Rig," I said. "If that timetable is right."
Her ship was listed as the USN Star Angel—similar to the Shokasta but modified to carry cargo. I punched up the details.
"That's strange," I murmured. "It's not here."
"What?" Aurore said.
"According to this, Dollie's ship has left, even though it's not supposed to for several days."
"She might have decided on an early departure," Logan said.
"Perhaps. But according to the manifest, the ship wasn't loaded."
Logan looked closer at the screen. "That doesn't make any sense."
I was as confused. There was no reason for her to head to Tau Ceti early, especially if she hadn't taken on the cargo and supplies. It would be a wasted trip, and even with the Jump drive making it possible, that wasn't something done lightly. Then it hit me.
"When was the announcement made about the new location for the All-Parties Conference?"
"About a week ago," said Aurore. "But what has that got to do with anything?"
"Will Paek be there?"
Logan pulled the interface back onto his console, and his fingers bounced off the screen as he searched the data. "He's confirmed as attending on behalf of both Xselsia and the Executive. But how could Dollie know that? The list isn't widely distributed."
What he said was true, but I could think of one way Dollie could get around any security issues. I linked to the systems interface for the High-Rig and opened up a back door into the station's security system.
"Jesus, Joe, do you want to get us locked up?" Logan hissed.
"SecOps aren't the only ones with a few tricks up their sleeves."
I accessed the archives and ran a search on the security footage around the docking port where the Star Angel should have been. I rewound the recordings to before the ship had left, then shuffled them forward. It didn't take long to spot someone who could have been Dollie, and I stopped the recording. Then I replayed it at normal speed, zooming in on the display. Two figures came into view headed for the Star Angel's airlock. When they entered the enlarged area, I froze the image and threw in an enhancement filter.
"That's Dollie," Aurore whispered. "But who's with her?"
If it was who I thought it was, I'd only seen her once without her alt-real helmet, but Logan knew her better.
"Sigurd," he said.
"They're going after Paek," I whispered.
"Who's Sigurd?" Aurore peered at the screen.
"Ex-SecOps something..." I said. "You'd have to ask Logan for details."
Logan barked out a short laugh. "I don't know much more than you. She was part of SecOps several years ago. Did covert ops during the Corporate Breakaway Conflicts. I never knew the details, except one time when she got into trouble down in the Central South Alliance. I was working on an irrigation job near Pasto, and she turned up one day in the mud at the construction site. We thought she was dead, but when we moved her, she opened her eyes. We cleaned her up, but she'd been tortured and beaten almost to death."
Aurore paled. "What happened then?"
"We were on the border with the MusCat south territories, and their Enforcers came searching the next day, even though that was technically an invasion of the CSA. I hid her, and when she'd recovered some of her strength, I put her on a truck heading for Quito. She said once she was there, she could take care of things herself. I didn't doubt her—she was one tough lady. Never saw her again, but when my contract finished and I returned to the USP, I was contacted by SecOps for a debrief. That's where my connection with them started."
"And Dollie's involved with her?" Aurore stared at me.
"They used to be... hell, I don't know the whole story, but at one time they were lovers. Dollie left, and Sigurd didn't take it well."
"And now?" Aurore said.
"All I can think is that Dollie must have gone to Sigurd for help getting to Paek. He certainly deserves it." My head dropped. "I had plans along those lines too, but I was trapped on Earth when I wouldn't hand over the Shokasta."
"And you knew it was suicide," Logan said.
I stared at him. "That wouldn't have stopped me."
"I know that, Joe. Which is one of the re
asons they kept you out of space." He sighed. "It wasn't only the ship. You're smart, able, and more than willing to put it all on the line. You've shown that multiple times."
"I'm going after her."
The room went quiet. I wasn't one hundred percent sure Logan wouldn't call security. When he replied, his voice grated like a stone slab unlocking the entrance to hell.
"That doesn't surprise me." He glanced at Aurore. "If I was in your situation, I'd likely do the same."
I checked the docking services system to see when everything would be replenished and refilled. "I'm leaving in two hours. Better get your gear off. This is probably a one-way mission."
Aurore came over and rested her hand on mine. "Are you going to stop Dollie? Or help her?"
"I'll let you know... when I get back."
She shivered, hugging herself, and turned to Logan. "And you?"
I could see how torn Logan was and patted his thick shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to come along."
"You don't have to. I'm coming." He took a big lungful of air and turned to face Aurore. "I'm sorry, I ca—"
"Don't even think it. If you're going with him, we both are."
Logan froze. "But—"
Aurore lifted her chin. "This ain't no debate, lover."
My stomach felt like it had fallen through the floor at the thought of putting my closest friends at risk. "I can't let you—"
"We're the only family you've got, Joe," Logan rumbled. "Family sticks together, remember?"
"Then you'll need me too." McDole was standing by the entrance.
"We can manage," I said. "Besides, from what you've told me, you should stay well away from this."
"You don't have a chance of getting inside Marduk without me." McDole spread her feet wide. "Security will be impenetrable."
Logan grunted. "She's right, Joe. We wouldn't get within ten-thousand kilometers on our own."
I checked the clock again. "Departure in one hour, forty-five. And bring your hard hats. It's not going to be gentle."
Transformation Protocol Page 25
